Survey: Investors Liking SRI Funds to Keep Firms In
Line

January 23, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - American
investors think that socially responsible (SRI) mutual funds
contribute to better corporate behavior by keeping companies
more honest and influencing them to make safer products,
according to an SRI industry survey.

The poll by the Calvert SRI fund family found that over
half (54%) of investors not in socially responsible
investment (SRI) mutual funds now say they are interested
in investing in them, according to a news release. Calvert
said that was increased significantly from 1999 (40%)
and somewhat from 2002 (49%).

The Calvert survey showed that more than half (55%) of
Americans believe it is very important that socially
responsible mutual funds use their interaction and
investment practices to pressure corporations to act more
socially responsible. As to the results of such
efforts, respondents indicated that SRI mutual funds
contribute the most to:

product safety (66%)

corporate honesty (60%)

environmental safety (59%)

generating fairer wages for employees (55%)

reducing sweat shop labor conditions in Third
World countries (52%)

making it more likely that women and minorities
will be hired and promoted (both at 51%).

Also, according to the news release, more than half of
Americans (52%) believe that SRI mutual funds are at least
somewhat successful at achieving goals such as inducing
companies to make safer products, keeping companies more
honest, and making it less likely that companies will
engage in environmentally harmful behavior.

In fact, knowing that a company is rated higher in terms
of their social performance would make 71% of Americans
more likely to invest in that company, and 77% of Americans
would purchase more of their products and services.

Over half of the respondents (55%) indicate they
strongly/somewhat agree that socially responsible companies
carry less risk, and 52% agree that they deliver better
returns.

The Calvert Group commissioned The Segmentation Company,
a division of Yankelovich to conduct the survey, which
included 800 telephone interviews in December
2005.